As Tobais left to set-up his things for his stay, Ethan joined the ongoing conversation between the rest of his ranch’s guests. Jessie and Meowth stayed on the outskirts, having a conversation of their own, but were listening in to the main group’s topics as they threw Ash dirty glares. James was too preoccupied with the reunion with his two pokemon to bother with the rest of the activities surrounding him.

“---and that’s all of his pokemon. Well, if he hasn’t caught anymore in the last few days. They seem to fall into his lap.” Cynthia finished just as Ethan arrived.

“Talking about me? Shameless.” He jested as the conversation came to a lull.

Dawn’s eyes were shining as she turned to face him, a timid look adorning her face. “Do you think I can meet your Teddiursas?”

Brock and Ash looked on with mirth, but also had slight smiles on their faces at her very ‘girly’ question. Ethan laughed and nodded. He was just happy that she asked. This surely wouldn’t be the last time people would be interested in his two cute cubs, and he did like showing his pokemon to people. “Sure! Usually, they are at home with their mom, but in anticipation of the many guests today, I stored them in their pokeballs for safety. Come on out!” He finished by grabbing their pokeballs from his vest, and tossing them out in front of everyone.

Almost immediately, Ursaring’s pokeball began to wobble and shake. It was their signal for her wanting to be let out. Mama bear could break out on her own. She was more than strong enough to be able to force her way out, but she had enough trust in him to know that he’d never keep her in her ball. Also, appearing out of a pokeball at random could end in some awkward scenarios.

“Teddi!”

“Ted! Ted!”

The two Teddiursa ran forward to tackle Ethan to the ground, their noses up and sniffing for his hidden cache of berries. Ethan fended them off with one hand as he awkwardly released Ursaring with the other one, which was still holding the gun’s lockbox. At her appearance, the two rowdy cubs calmed a little. They were most likely afraid of being scolded, as there’s been a few instances where they got a little too rough with him.

Dawn cooed and knelt down, patting her skirt down as she did so. She looked to Ursaring, who bore a baleful stare through her head, and patiently waited for the Teddiursa to come to her. Ethan gently turned them around to face the kneeling girl and gave them a gentle shove forward. “She wants to play with you. Be gentle.”

“Urs.” Mama bear grunted, reinforcing the gentleness of the playing.

The two Teddi cautiously meandered forward, their hands coming up to their mouths to suck on. Dawn held out a hand, which the duo of Teddiursa sniffed, before rubbing their heads into. With a squeal, Dawn petted and patted his two Teddiursa under the watchful gaze of their mother.

Ethan stepped over towards Ursaring, then whispered in her direction. “These are the good ones. Keep an eye out for the three off to the side. If anything is going to happen, it’ll be from them.”

They both side-eyed the trio of rockets, who were watching the Teddiursa with… mere curiosity. Jessie looked taken with them, not in a malicious way either. To be fair, Ethan had expected to see untold amounts of greed shining in their eyes. Maybe he was being slightly unfair and judging towards them, but these were his pokemon. He’d continue being on guard until they proved themselves trustworthy.

From behind the trio of rockets, one of his other pokemon was walking up the path towards the group, easel and paint supplies floating alongside him.

Smeargle normally didn’t use his moves for everyday tasks, but Ethan had suggested using them as a source of training. He would readily admit that he had no clue what the hell he was supposed to do when it came to training pokemon, but he figured that using moves and growing used to them was better than nothing. It also made life easier, which was just a bonus.

The painter casually set-up his art supplies a good distance away—preparing to paint the scene and people before him—as Ethan joined his side and asked a favor. “Smeargle, I have a favor to ask. A very important one.” He stressed the importance, which made Smeargle turn to give him his full attention.

Ethan held out the lockbox. “I need you to take this and put it in the pokeball safe near the door. Do you remember the passcode?” Smeargle nodded, so Ethan carried on. “This is dangerous. What is in this box can kill people. I trust you, but I am making sure you know what you’re dealing with. Do not open this. Do you understand?”

Smeargle nodded once again, then dropped his tail from his hands and took the lockbox from him. Ethan rubbed his head, then watched as his pokemon jogged down the path back towards his house. He waited for two or three minutes for Smeargle to return, not joining the others while he waited. When Smeargle arrived, he made sure to check to make sure everything went well. Smeargle gave him a thumbs up and a serious nod.

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“Thank you, enjoy your painting. If you’re running low on supplies, don’t forget to let me know.” Ethan finished with another rub of the painter’s head and then joined the group once again.

Dawn was still absorbed with his Teddiursa, and Ursaring had plopped down on her butt to watch the ongoings with a keen eye. Brock, Ash, and Pikachu were animatedly talking with Cynthia, while both Joyce and Jocelyn were in private talks with one another. Joyce was pointing around the ranch, most likely explaining the layout to Jocelyn, and Jocelyn’s Happinny, Happy, gurgled and waved at everyone around.

Ethan slid into Joyce and Jocelyn’s conversation and decided he should get some business out of the way. “Settling in okay?” He asked the younger of the two, earning a slight smile and nod.

“The center is in good condition, and your ranch is quite beautiful.” Jocelyn replied.

“Good, good. Do you know if people can register pokemon here at this center? Or would I have to make a trip to Eterna City for that?” He asked, earning a laugh from Joyce.

Joyce looked over towards Smeargle with a knowing glint in her eye. “You can do that here. How many pokemon do you have now, Ethan?”

Without even needing a moment to think, he instantly responded. “Eleven.”

“Eleven!?” Joyce exclaimed, not expecting the answer.

Ethan held up his hand and started to count them out, bending a finger with every name. “Pachirisu, Chatot, Smeargle, Munchlax, Skiddo, Emolga, Tinkatink, Shuckle, Teddirursa, another Teddiursa, and Ursaring.” One the final name, which was number eleven, Ethan just stuck his pointer finger up again.

Joyce waved her hands rapidly. “Wait, wait, wait. You caught the Munchlax? Wait! Was that egg a Tinkatink!?”

“Yup! It was a busy morning when the eggs were hatched. I’ll need to register them.” Ethan sighed, remembering that eventful night.

Joyce looked at Jocelyn and gave her an encouraging nod and a smile. Jocelyn, picking up on the first of her duties coming right at her, straightened up and inclined her head. “We—I can do that for you right now.”

Ethan waved her off. “It’s not that important. We can do it once things calm down. Let’s get you settled in first.”

Ethan then walked off to join the Rockets, and pointed off down the road. “C’mon. Let’s get you guys situated.” He walked right by them, and only looked back to see that they were following along.

Once they reached the small cottage, Ethan let them take the lead as they entered inside. It was a small and cozy cottage, but a very picturesque place to live. “This is all yours. You have solar panels installed, and in the worst cases I can have one of my electric pokemon come over and charge the little generator. You can borrow some of my spare seeds to start your own garden here in your yard, and you can grab some of my berries whenever you like.”

James’ Chingling didn’t even bother going inside, instead opting to connect itself to the small awning above the doorway with a content and happy smile. It made soft chings and changs as it wisped in the wind. Growlie, James’ Growlithe, sprinted around its new home with the zoomies. James tried to wrangle his childhood friend, but was doing so haphazardly and with a tearful, happy smile.

Jessie looked around imperiously, but with a hint of unease. If Ethan were to make a guess, he’d assume that she wasn’t comfortable having ‘her own place.’ Meowth was going around opening drawers, and overall inspecting the home and its belongings.

Ethan took this moment to speak with some more privacy. “I really want this to work. I know you guys—Trust me, I really do. You aren’t bad people. Please, don’t prove me wrong.” He pointed outside, out a small cobbled window. “You can have your pokemon out and about, but please let any carnivorous pokemon know that they must hunt in the surrounding forests, and they must NEVER hunt on the ranch’s grounds.”

Jessie looked shocked for a moment, before turning to face Ethan with her hands folded across her chest, wearing a frown. “Cynthia has our pokemon.”

Ethan blinked in mild surprise, then held up a finger. “Let’s go solve that then.”

Jessie and Ethan left Meowth and James in their new home and worked their way up back the road, only to find that the whole group had moved over towards the training field. Joyce’s Pikachu, Ash’s Pikachu, His Pachirisu, and Dawn’s Pachirisu, were playing around in the center. It looked to be a game of tag or some weird wrestling match, Ethan wasn’t too sure, but it looked like they were all having fun.

“Cynthia, they need their pokeballs.” Ethan said as he approached, causing Cynthia to spin around to face him and Jessie.

Her smile faded, and the ever-growing familiar look of The Champion took its place. She pulled off the from onlooking crowd and stood before them as she stared down Jessie. “You know what will happen if things go awry?”

Jessie meekly nodded, and Ethan spoke up for her. The thought of being separated from his own pokemon made him just a little bit empathetic. “Give her the pokeballs. You’ve done your part, I got this.”

Cynthia grabbed two belts of pokeballs from her small side-satchel, then handed them to Ethan. Not knowing whose was whose, he held them up towards Jessie, and she easily snatched hers out from James.

Instantly, she walked off a good distance and released her pokemon. From where he stood, he could see a Seviper, a Dustox, and the large blue forms of Wobbuffet. Even from roughly thirty or forty feet away, he could hear the large cry of “Wooooobbuffet!” and see the small salute it gave towards her.

“I’m sorry.” Cynthia murmured from his side.

“I know you are. Don’t do it again.” Ethan replied, not looking away as Jessie knelt, hugged, and spoke to each of her pokemon in turn. After having a private conversation with each of them, Jessie stood and pointed off to the berry fields in question. Ethan nodded in answer, and she walked with them to get them some food.

Before Ethan left to give James his own partners back, he left a final message for Cynthia. “Try to get Brock, Ash, and Dawn out of my ranch. I don’t want them here longer than they have to be, but I also don’t want to be mean about it.”

Cynthia snorted, or, well… huffed some air out her nose. “I’ll do my best.”